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San Onofre - Unit 1

1.0 Site Identification

2.0 Site Status Summary

The San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS), operated by Southern California Edison (SCE) is approximately 100 km (60 mi) south of Los Angeles, 6.5 km (4 mi) south of San Clemente, CA. It is located between I-5 and the Pacific Ocean, within the boundary of the Camp Pendleton military reserve. There were three nuclear power plants on the site. Unit 1 commenced operation in 1968, and shut down in 1992. Units 2 and 3 are expected to continue operating until about 2022. Dismantlement of Unit 1 is nearing completion. The turbine building is being removed down to about 8 feet below grade. The licensee completed reactor pressure vessel internal segmentation and cutup. The licensee was unable to make arrangements for shipping the reactor pressure vessel to disposal because of the size and weight of the vessel and shipping package. The licensee plans to store the vessel onsite for the foreseeable future, as long as licensed activities are ongoing. The licensee transfered Unit 1 spent fuel to an onsite generally licensed ISFSI.

SONGS-1, a Westinghouse 3-loop pressurized water reactor constructed by Bechtel and rated at 1347 MWt, was constructed in 1964 - 1967, and began commercial operation on January 1, 1968. It ceased operation on November 30, 1992. Defuelling was completed on March 6, 1993. On December 28, 1993, NRC approved the Permanentely Defueled Technical Specifications. On November 3, 1994, SCE submitted a Proposed Decommissioning Plan to place SONGS-1 in SAFSTOR until the shutdown on Units 2 and 3, at the end of their licenses, that were extended to 2022 by license amendments in March, 2000. On December 15, 1998, following a change in NRC decommissioning regulations, SCE submitted a post shutdown decommissioning activities report (PSDAR) for SONGS-1, to commence DECON in 2000. Since that time, SCE has been actively decommissioning the facility. Most of the structures and equipment have been removed and disposed. Water control is active, and is processed through the Unit 2 - 3 wastewater treatment system. The fuel from Unit 1 was transferred to Phase 1 of the ISFSI. The ISFSI will be expanded onto the area previously occupied by Unit 1 as needed in order to store all Unit 2 and Unit 3 spent fuel.

3.0 Major Technical or Regulatory Issues

SCE plans to leave the off-shore portions of the Unit 1 cooling intake and outlet pipes in place, under the Pacific Ocean seabed, and release them for unrestricted use and terminate the lease it has from California. This would constitute a partial site release prior to submission of the LTP in accordance with 10 CFR 50.83. SCE has submitted an Environmental Report to the state. SCE discussed its plans with NRC during 2006. In acordance with 10 CFR 50.83, it submitted a request to NRC for release for unrestricted use of this system in December, 2007. That amendment is being reviewed by the staff; no issues have been identified in the review. During remediation activities inside containment, a breach of the containment vessel allowed water from the pedestal area to enter containment. When sampled, the water had elevated concentrations of tritium. As part of the NEI ground water initiative related to tritium releases into ground water, SCE installed several monitoring wells around the Unit 1 structures. Some concentrations above background were measured, but all are far below the EPA drinking water limits, and in non- potable saline water. Extraction wells were used to remediate all H-3 that was above background. The PSDAR states all equipment and structures from Unit 1 will be removed from the site at the time of license termination, but SCE has stated it may reconsider this later, and possibly leave some of the below-grade structures in place. For now, SCE has elected to leave the below-grade portions of the turbine building in place after grouting expansion joints and embedded pipes. Because SCE has not submitted an LTP for this unit, there are not an NRC-approved survey plan nor residual concentration limits. Therefore, it is not known if the surveys done on these areas prior to grouting will meet NRC requirements for final status surveys at the time of request for license termination. Current survey data may not support this option, in which case additional surveys, e.g. of the embedded piping, may be necessary. The licensee is also in the process of establishing a site-wide reference grid using GPS coordinates. Not all data has been converted to the new grid system.

4.0 Estimated Date For Closure

12/30/2045

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Thursday, April 16, 2009